Fire-resisting shutter.



L. G. WILSON. IIBE RESISTING SHUTTER. APPIJIOATIONIILED NOV. 12,1908.

' Patented A ma, 1909.

. n WITNESSES nwmro/z I 155m? 0.1444304 ATTOH/VE VS LESTER G.-WILSON, 0F LARGHM0NT, -N EW YORK.

s ecification of Letters Patent.

FIRE RESIS-TING SHUTTER.

Patented April 13, 1909.

Application filed Ndvembe: 12, 1908. 'Serial No. 462,213.

To all whom it may concern:

l 3e it known that LLns'rnR G. WrLsoN, a resident of Larchinont, Westch'ester county, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire- Resistin Shutters, of which the following is a full-,c ear, andrexact specification.

My invention "relates to rolling shutters made of fire resisting material and adapted to automatically close over the opening that is to be protected whenever .the emperature in the immediate vicinity of the shutter shall reach a definite and predetermined maximum. r My invention has reference to automatic shutters the counterbalanced type tin which the shutter ma be normally opened or closed to-any desire extent Without interference with the automatic releasing device;

and comprises certain special oonstrpctions arrangements of parts as will more fully appear as the specification proceeds.

' The object of my invention is to provide a means by which. case of fire, the shutter ma T be release automatically, positively an certalnly, without risk of failure and -w-ithout entailing damage to structural or functional parts of the curtain.

A further object is to enablethe shutter to be quickly and easil reset in operative osition without the ai of special tools or abor r f A further object of my invention is to enable the shutter to be set inoperative position at practically any opening less than itsfull extent.

Still further objects of my invention will hereafter appear.

R ferring to the drawin awhich-show a preferred embodiment o my improved shutter; Figure 1 is a sectional elevation showing one casing head together with the end of the shutter roller coo erati-ng therewith, as also the essential eatures of my Q automatic 're1ease;' Fig. 2 is an elevation theleft ofliig. 1 and Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of my improved retarding device or limit-stop. x

The shutter proper may be of any usual construction of lime retardin material, as for example, corrugated meta or interlocked slats and is supposed to attach toand roll upon a series of barrels -2, mounted upon a shaft 3-, upon which they have free angular movement. Flat, coiled springs, 4., of suitable length are inclosed by each barrel and have their ends attached respectively to the inner periphery of the barrel and to the shaft; when the shutter is'fully raised, these springs are given, by independent rotation of the shaft, 3, in a suitable direction, a further uplifting tendency of any desired degree. They serve, therefore, as counterbalancing springs against which the shutter is always lowered; and if the springs, 4, be suitably selected as to length and stiffness and the runways in which the'curtain edges travel be properly fitted to such edges, the curtain Wlll remain in any particular place in which it is put. One end of shaft, 3, (not shown in-the drawings) is jourmled in the ordinary way. .The other end is tipped with a fixedly attached groove pulley, 5, in the groove 6, of which a wire rope, 7, is

adapted to wind so as to raise or lower the shutter, This wire rope passes from the pulley downwardly in agroove 8, formed in the casin head.

Just be 0W the shutter roll and inside the plane of the shutter, is formed in the casing ead an elongated recess, 9, to the bottom of which at'10, is fixed one end of a spiral spring, 11, the other end being prolongated bya straight piece, 12, attached about midway of the shutter to a fusible link, 13; from the other end of this fusible link a second wire, 14, is carried to the other side of the curtain and attached in some convenient manner. The fusible link may be the ordinary article of commerce consisting essentially of two thin, flat ieces of metal with their flats held together y solder of suitable melting point and with eyes, 15, for fastening the wires.

Pivoted to the casing head at 16, a little below-spring, 11 is a lever, 17, having a slot 18, through which slot the wire, 12, passes, and into which itis fastened so that as the spring, 11, is contracted or extended, the lever 17 moves u on its pivot. The pivot end of this leveras formed upon it at one side a projectin portion or knob, 19; this knob isso place on" the leverand with relation to the wire rope, 7., that when spring, 11, is extended as in Fig. 1, the knob, 19, is jammed against the wire rope with a wedgmg action so as to hold said rope us its groove, 8, and thus maintain the shutter in position.-

As shown in the drawings, the shutter is supposed raised and in operative position;

If properly set, the tension in s rings -4 should be such asf'to assist .in li ting the shutter no matter ,where it may be in its opening. The curtain will,.'ther'efore, re-v main at any point of its opening where it may 1Q- beset.

, :If, for any reason, the temperature in the vicinity of the fusible link 13-should rise to the predetermined limit, the solder in this fuse will melt andthe-links separate, thus permitting spring, 11', to contract and swing ever, 17, clockwise so as tjo.1"elease the wire rope, 7.; Shaft 3 will. at once fly around junder the"tensionof-springs,4, and the instantly shutterhaving now lost the uplift of said. springs, and'having nothing but the friction 1 of its edges in-thegroovesto sustainit, will. fall its. full course from whatever position it may havehad.

Since the weight of the" increasingly effective as it unrolls, it is clear that. the shutter ,willyfall, when released as rotation of shaft 3, after release and before I I will ,then take the shutter gently to rest'at the limit of its? I accomplish this very sim lyl 40 I above, with rapidly accelerated velocityand that some means for checking excessive speed and preventing the shutter from reaching' its limit suddenly is required, -.if permanent damage to theshutte'rand its mounting is to be avoided. I, therefore, arrest the the, shutter-has fully fallen, at such a point that the fwi'nding up of-.'springs 4 which place will exert just the amount 'bfretardmg force necessary to bring movement. by ending the wire rope 7, at a suite. le'

length and then fixing to suchend -a suitable sto casing head stop's the-shaft but permits the shutter to continue its fall against the ten sion of springs In practice I prefer to makethe stop, 20, as a cylindrical'sleeve slipping over the rope 7, and havinga recess 21, in, which lies'aspecial spring 22; this spring surrounds the rope and is retained between the bottom of the recess and'end- 4 of the rope by a vwasher, 23. When piece 20 I reaches the casing head, therefore, shaft 3 is itself not stopped suddenly P i.;e., under normal conditions, the springs 4, y are, of course, always set,'and the shutter is supposed to be raised andlowered in any ordinary method, as for example, by merelye0 taking hold of it and lifting or pushingas the p but gradually,

asspring 22 is com ressed.

In the absence- 0 excess ve temperature,

c'asemay'be; the wire rope being used only for the purpose of setting the shutter for automatic release as below described. Under these circumstances, the shutter operates as shutter becomes 20 which when drawn up against the.

simply lifts it to its full or any other pre ferred limit, and at the same time pulls upon the wire rope 7, until the limit stop 20 is in its roper position. Wire 12 may then be pul ed out so as to extend spring 11 and the fusible linkand wire be placed. When the shutter is largeand heavy, two people are [generally required to set it, one raising the shutter while the other simultaneously draws upon the 'wire rope, holding the latter in its finalpositi'on until the lever 17 is locked against it and retained by the link and wires 12 and 14.

mechanical detail in'carrying out my invention without departing from its spirit or 'goingi outside its scope.

' am aware thatcounterbalanced fire re' usistlng shutters have been hitherto made to fall automatically through the intermediationof meanfs'fusible by excess of temperatureand I do not broadly claim this idea, but only theemb'odiment and means which have been disclosed and which I particularly set -forthin the following claims.

Wherever I use the word cord in the claims, I-"me an any linear, reasonably nonelastic means of generally cordlike character "whether round, flat, or otherwise in section and whether of metal or not.

i I claim I-may obviously make many/alterations of 1. In a rollerlfor. a fire resistant shutter comprising a barrel elastically united to a shaft; a cord coeperating with said shaft and adapted to rotate thesame, a device for holding said cord at any desired opening of the mined temperature operating upon said holding device'to-release the cord and thereby free the'shaft, substantially as described,

.2. In 'a roller'for a fire resistant shutter comprising a barrel elasticallyunited to a shaft a grooved pulley fixed to said shaft, a

cord windable in said groove to rotate said shaft, a olamp adapted to hold said cord at any-desired opening of the shutter, and

means-fusible at' a predetermined temperature to release said clamp and thereby free the shaft, substantially as described.

3."In a fire resistant shutter ada ted to be c'oiled by a cord' cooperating witht e shutter shaft; and arranged to close suddenly, damp-. ,in'g means attached to said cord and adapted to be engaged as' -the shutter approaches the limit of its 'closure', thereby stopping the shutter shaft.

shutter, and means fusible at a predeter- 4. Ina fire resistant shutter ada ted to be coiled by a cord cooperating with t e shutter hand in the presence of two subscribing shaft, and arranged to close suddenly, van

witnesses.

limit-Stop comprisingba. spring attached 0 the cor and ada ted to ecompressed est e T Y shutter ap roaefies the limit of its closure, LESTER WILSON 5 substantia y as and for the purpose de- Witnesses: scribed. ELMER SHIRLYOUNG,

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my I ERNST DOSCHER. 

